Menu  
Close  
  • Who we are
  • Our work
  • News & Analysis
  • Events
  • Library
Accessibility options
Search the site

Diwaniyah Roma receive Coronavirus vaccine effortlessly

Category: News By: Tahseen Al-Zarkani Posted on: April 21, 2022

Al-Diwaniyah, March 2022: A mother and her child in the village of Al-Zuhour, home to the Roma. Photo by Tahseen Al-Zarkani.

Umm (mother of) Salah and the residents of the village of Al-Zuhour which is inhabited by Roma in Al-Diwaniyah province, were afraid that they would not be treated when the first infection with the Coronavirus was announced.

Fears dissipated by the tours of the first health teams to the village to take swabs from them and provide treatment for those who decided to receive treatment at home, so that every Roma could obtain the Corona vaccine without obstacles.

The village of Al-Zuhour is located 7 km southeast of Al-Diwaniyah district. It is inhabited by a majority of Shiite Muslim Arabs, a small number of Sunnis and some Sabean Mandaeans, in addition to the Roma.

The Romain Iraq are an ethnic minority. Their main source of livelihood is breeding animals and its products, especially milk. There are no accurate statistics available for the number of Romain Iraq because of the way and nature of their life, which is characterised by constant movement from one region to another in search of pastures for their livestock.

Two government statistics are currently available, one of it is dated back to 2000 and estimated their numbers at more than 200,000 people, while the number decreased according to other statistics issued in 2005 to 50,000.

Umm Salah, 42, thinks “ignorance and indifference to news for being preoccupied with securing food contributed to our lack of knowledge of the pandemic and its damages, until two people from one family were infected in the first months of 2020”.

After we obtained the national card, we were able to register to take the vaccine.

Umm Salah.

Since then, the Roma have begun to investigate the epidemic and its damages and how to protect themselves from it, after medical teams visited villages and remote areas, including the village of Al-Zuhour.

Some historical sources indicate that the Roma have moved to the northwest since the second millennium BC, entered Persia and then descended into the Iraqi plain in the first millennium BC.

In 2020, the Iraqi Ministry of Interior issued instructions to the directorates of nationality of all province to remove the word “gypsy” from the civil status identity and the word “exception” from the nationality certificate, a step for equality among citizens.

This action made it easier for Roma to obtain a national card, and thus the possibility of obtaining doses of the Corona vaccine, as the national card is one of the official and main documents that should be issued to every Iraqi citizen and has become an alternative to previous documents such as the Iraqi citizenship certificate and civil status card.

Diwaniyah, March 2022: A woman from the village of flowers. Photo by Tahseen Al-Zarkani.

Amjad Hussein, a father of three daughters who lives in the same village, says that getting the vaccine required an official document. “After we obtained the national card, we were able to register to receive the vaccine doses. My wife and two of my daughters received both doses.”

Umm Salah confirms, “The majority of my family and relatives received the dose of the vaccine without any obstacles, and we encourage others to take the vaccine.”

From the moment the pandemic was declared, medical teams have been keen to visit the village of Al-Zuhour.

The General Directorate of Al-Diwaniyah Health has opened a small health center in the village of Al-Zuhour so that the residents of the village, including the Roma, can receive the vaccine.

Meanwhile, the Director of the Commission for Human Rights in Al-Diwaniyah, Muhammad Al-Budairi, explains that “there is a health center in this village that provides very few services to them, in addition to the fact that many are exposed to diseases, especially infectious and skin diseases, because of their residence in areas unfit for habitation.”

Inaam Abd, a doctor within the teams of the Diwaniyah Health Directorate, called for the need to pay more attention to this segment, as they are vulnerable to diseases, especially skin diseases.

In general, it is difficult for Roma to obtain health services due to their constant movement and the distance of their areas of residence from city centers and districts, so they are exposed, along with the risks of Corona, to many diseases that affect the skin.

Roma are spread in small groups all over Iraq, especially in Diwaniyah, and they live in villages or at the outskirts of cities or districts and sub-districts, but there are currently no statistics available about Roma in Diwaniyah.

Al-Diwaniyah, March 2022: A Roma family from the village of Al-Zuhour. Photo by Tahseen Al-Zarkani.

There is also no statistic available on vaccinated Roma as the official records of the Public Health Department of the Diwaniyah Health Directorate did not distinguish the Roma from the rest of the citizens, due to their possession of the national card which shows no words such as Roma or (Kawli) alike previous official documents.

The Director of the Public Health Department, Dr Makki Briber Al-Saidi, said, “From the moment the pandemic was announced, medical teams were keen to visit the village of Al-Zuhour, and when the Health Department obtained vaccinations, more than 80 citizens were vaccinated in that village.”

The Public Health Department and all medical and nursing cadres deal equally with citizens regardless of their color, race or affiliation. The National Card canceled that information that was causing social disparities and stigmas among citizens.

Dr Makki Briber Al-Saidi.

For his part, the mayor of the village of Al-Zuhour, Abu Seif says that “all the residents of the village depend on daily work to secure sources of income, and when the curfew is imposed, we are deprived of our work or providing money to manage our daily lives, but some organisations and community activists have continued to provide food baskets helped to overcome the crisis.”

Several international and local organisations, including the International Rescue Committee (IRC), an implementing partner of the United Nations High Council for Refugees (UNHCR), have dedicated several programs to guarantee the rights of citizens to own a national card.

According to government decisions, it is required to possess an official document such as a civil status card, an Iraqi nationality certificate or a national card in order to receive the vaccine.

Regardless of the Roma’s lifestyle, there is currently a health center in the village where Umm Salah lives, and everyone there is able to receive the vaccine without any obstacles.

This article was originally published on KirkukNow. This article can be viewed in Arabic, Kurdish or Turkish via KirkukNow.

Related content

News
Admin issues impede access of Christians to Covid jabs in Kirkuk

Kirkuk, August 2022: A resident of Kirkuk is receiving the Coronavirus vaccine in the Cathedral of the Sacred heart church. Photo by Karwan Salihi. The…

VIEW THIS RESOURCE
News
Moslawi volunteer fights Covid-19 to save locals

Nineveh, March 2022: Abdullah, a lawyer from Mosul, voluntarily provides oxygen bottles to serious cases of Covid-19 infection hospitalised at home for lack of beds…

VIEW THIS RESOURCE
News
IDPs and refugees vaccinated by mobile and rotary teams

Sulaymaniyah, November 30, 2021: An IDP is receiving Coronavirus vaccine in Ashti camp. Media department of the Sulaymaniyah Health Department. Four women were waiting in…

VIEW THIS RESOURCE
Back to top
  • Accessibility
  • Terms of use
  • Sitemap
  • Privacy & cookies
  • Contact

[email protected]

CREID team
Institute of Development Studies
Library Road
University of Sussex
Falmer BN1 8RE
East Sussex, United Kingdom

Sign up to our newsletter

Our mailing list is managed by
Institute of Development Studies

© 2023 CREID. Made by Surface Impression.



These options can change the way this website looks, which may help you to use it more easily.

Accessibility options


  •   Text options

Text options

Standard text

Standard text size

Large text

Large text size

Extra large text

Extra large text size